If you build it, they will come

Picnicing in Tobin Hills - Wednesday
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Cousins from Denver and Houston

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Sisters-in-Law


HIGHLIGHTS:
1. The headline is just a tease. We didn't build it. We are just renovating it. But, they did come. ("If you renovate it, they will come" just doesn't have the same Hollywood history.) We had FIFTEEN visitors this week and loved it! In order of appearance -
. Back in September, Pat offered to host the monthly lunch for friends from her Bible study group. She was anticipating a cozy luncheon in the restored dining room. Instead of that, she and her friends dined on self provided sandwiches and picnic foods in one of the "upper rooms." The group toured the house after lunch and offered many kind words of encouragement about the work in progress.
. On Wednesday night, Monte and Mona flew in from Denver, CO and spent the night with us at the apartment. Monte's sister, Sharon and her daughter, Layne, met us all at the house on Thursday. They were en route to their Mom's 80th birthday celebration in Del Rio. We loved showing off what we are doing. I think that they all have enough imagination to see where we're going with this renovation. At least they were kind enough to not tell me I was still crazy after all these years.
. Friday brought the final visitors of the week. Dad, his wife, Virginia, and my sister, Shanna, arrived from College Station. They got the guided tour. (I did give them the family discount.) Dad and I stayed at the house a little longer than the rest and worked on domestication of the cats.
. After a stay in San Antonio on Friday night, we all traveled to Del Rio for the birthday party. Monte, Mona, Sharon, and Layne did a stellar job honoring Aunt Gene at her party. Relatives and friends from Dallas, Houston, San Angelo, Ft. Stockton, Del Rio, Sabinal, and San Antonio thoroughly enjoyed the lunch and visiting. We even broke out dominos for the traditional "42" games. What a blessing it is to have good family and friends!
2. Oh yeah - we did do some work on the house last week. Interior painting continued. The upper room aforementioned got its 2nd coat of paint. OSHA Babe womanned the orbital sander in the landing area. The guest bedroom and the Mary E. room got its last coat of trim paint and was taped in preparation for wall paint.
. Work began on the exterior painting. A 2 man crew began scrapping on the back of the house. I made arrangements to have them scrape, prime, and paint the north and west side of the house. We'll see how that goes.
3. On Friday, the shower door was installed. We got nickel metal trim and a neat looking tapered glass in the door. The guys who did the work walked through the house and really liked the backsplash in the kitchen. One of them even asked if I was a tile man. I do pretty good work but could not make it professionally. If you hired me by the hour to do a tile job, you couldn't afford me. If you hired me by the job, I'd starve by the time I finished. (Some folks used to tell me to keep my day job. But since this is my day job, I don't know what words of wisdom my friends might have.)
4. Frank the Floor Man told me that he would begin after the first of May. That's OK because we still have some painting to complete upstairs.
5. I have both sadness and moral disgust to report on the cat news. On a sad note, Bad Girl does not seem to be nursing a kitten any longer. I crawled under the house looking for the newborn but was unable to find kitty. Bad Girl has just been hanging around the neighborhood like nothing ever happened.
. Do you know the origin of the phrase "...the morals of an alley cat"? After watching both Bad Girl and Grey Girl and three tomcats from the neighborhood act like alley cats, I think they have read the manual. (If you watch much TV, you probably think that some people have read that same manual.) We are formulating plans with a helper from the SPCA to have a neutering party. We'll see how interested the tom cats are after the party.

NEXT STEPS:
1. We need to keep painting. Upstairs we lack the guest bedroom, the Mary E. room, the landing at the top of the stairs. With all the paint that we have bought, Sherwin Williams may be considering a name change in our honor. Perhaps, they are just going to name the 2007 Customer Appreciation Sale after us.
2. In the upstairs bathroom, I need to finish the floor, set the lavatory and toilet, and put up molding. Once the fixtures are set, I'll be a big step closer to getting the plumbing inspection that is holding up the gas company from moving the meter from the driveway side of the house to the east side of the house.
3. There is still work to be completed in the kitchen. I need to finish tiling the wall where the microwave and stove will be. And then, I need to grout it all. There is still one door frame that needs to be sanded and painted.

Not Quite "Shrine" Status Yet -- But Getting There

Starting on the Backsplash
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. Doesn't this look classy?
Do you see God's monogram "B" in the stone?
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.Do you see the "B"?

Two boards removed to access the plumbing and lower the kitchen drain line. Read on.

OSHA Babe got real good with the roller.

Dear friend, Anne, from church and SBC days









FOR THE WEEK ENDING April 15, 2007

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. What a difference a little stone on the backsplash makes in the kitchen! After devoting much of the week to painting, we worked in the kitchen Saturday setting the tumbled stone backsplash. The first two pictures above show how much it helps. Doesn't the faucet that OSHA Babe picked out look great?
...So what's the deal about "Shrine" status? In summary, the Maker of the granite has monogrammed the kitchen. As background, being the artistic tile setter that I am, I like to visually tie the granite slab and backsplash together by embedding a 2" x 2" square of the counter top granite into the design of the backsplash. While doing that on Saturday, the first piece of granite that I just happened to use had the letter "B" distinctly visible in the grain of the stone. (Can you see the "B" in the third and fourth pictures above?) At first, I thought it was a left over mark from the fabricators. However, after checking it out, the "B" is a naturally occurring design within the granite square. We're going to call it God's handiwork in the kitchen.
2. Sam the plumber and his helper, Andy, came by Thursday and decided that the existing drain in the kitchen wall was indeed higher than the discharge of the garbage disposal. After some discussion, the three of us also decided that water does not run uphill easily. Hence, the straightforward solution - lower the drain. But how? In the fifth picture above, that dark patch near the bottom of the house is the hole left after two sections of siding were removed from the exterior wall. Yep, we disassembled part of the house to add a lower drain line. Gulp! But the story had a good ending. First, the disposal, sink, and dishwasher can now drain. Additionally, the siding went back on the house so that it looks untouched. Whew!
..While they were there, the plumbers put the finishing touches on the rough in plumbing in the two bathrooms where the claw foot tubs will go. The water supply lines are now in place and ready for the sheetrock to go up. The tub drains are also now in place. We will be ready to set the tubs after the walls have been sheetrocked, bead board paneling placed, and the floors tiled. That's another plumber visit.
3. OSHA Babe was a painting champ this past week. She is pictured above in the TV room as we were getting started on Friday. Saturday afternoon, she led the charge in the master bedroom. The paint in there is a light blue. She already has her eye on the perfect bedspread and pillow cases. There is still a lot to do but we've got 2 rooms down.
4. Cat report - There is evidence that there is/are a new kitten(s) under the house. Bad Girl has been nursing and has a voracious appetite. We're not sure how many additions there are. We'll post pictures as they become available.
5. Our honored guest this week was Anne. You can tell from the picture that she really liked the granite. She and husband, Ken, have been friends from SBC days in Dallas in the early 80's. Ken and I carpooled in both Dallas and St. Louis. Their son and daughter, who babysat for our sons, now have children of their own. Anne just happened to have pictures of the grandchildren. You can tell the she and Ken take true delight in their family.

NEXT STEPS:
1. There is always painting to do. Before the floor guy arrives, we still have Pat's office, the guest bedroom, and the landing area at the top of the stairs to finish. Work, work, work.
2. In the small bathroom upstairs, we must get the tile grouted by Wednesday. The shower door is scheduled to be installed on Friday and the grouting must be done.
..The other bathrooms are ready for tile, sheetrock, and beadboard paneling. When that is all done, we'll be getting close to the time for claw foot tubs to be "footed" and moved into place. We're taking volunteers for helping to move the tubs.
3. We expect a large number of visitors this week. My Aunt Gene (whose picture you have seen on the blog more than once) is having a "special" birthday this coming week. Her children from Houston and the Denver area are hosting a celebration in Del Rio and have invited family members from all over to come. San Antonio just happens to be on the way for several. So, this week's visitors could include one Dad and his wife, one sister, two or three cousins, and possibly another uncle and aunt to come by. I hope they bring their work clothes.

How Did You Celebrate "Bathroom Improvement Week"?

Small Bathroom Upstairs -
. <---Before Small Bathroom Upstairs - Currently (below)
Downstairs Bathroom -
<---Before Downstairs Bathroom - Currently


Visitors - Art and Mary, dear friends from SBC days in Mexico City
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FOR THE WEEK ENDING April 8, 2007 - Easter Sunday

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Bathroom improvements were the most visible results of this week.
o In the small bathroom upstairs - we got the old fixtures removed, put bead board paneling on the walls, and put down the major part of the tile floor. It's starting to converge into a bathroom.
o In the Master bathroom upstairs - there is subfloor in place making the room ready for some tile work. The claw foot tub drain and water supply lines are still pending and will require some additional plumbing help.
o The downstairs bathroom probably changed in appearance the most. Pictures 3 and 4 above show before and current pictures of the room. You notice that there is now a floor in place and tiling is not far off. The back wall is firred out and ready for both the bath tub and lavatory water supply lines to be attached. Some sheetrock was hung in the room. It is coming along.

2. We're making a major effort to get the upstairs rooms painted in preparation for the finishing of the wood floors. OSHA Babe has become quite proficient in using the Metabo paint remover. You should have seen her "gettin 'er done" on Saturday. The trim in her office is ready to be sanded and painted. We got a first coat of paint on the trim in the guest bedroom. I think that the TV room is caulked and ready for its second coat of trim paint followed by its first coat of wall paints. The more we get done, the uglier the doors become. Their time will come.

3. We didn't totally overlook the kitchen. Two workers, Mario and son, Michael, got the 1/4" backerboard on the wall in preparation for putting in the tumbled stone backsplash. We had to rework a couple of electrical outlets with new boxes so the plugs will be flush with the finished wall. It's going to look great.

4. More foundation work is ahead. Robert, the foundation guy, stopped by on Thursday and surveyed some of the settling indications we have. He's going to have a crew come out and place five additional piers on a shaker beam that will help out. Who knows what a "shaker beam" is?

5. Dear friends from SBC days in Mexico City, Art and Mary, stopped by on Saturday. They moved back to South Padre Island last summer after 14 years in Mexico City. Art was a steadfast, wise friend to me during the 6 years we were there. Mary and Pat shared experiences as mothers of three sons and have stayed in touch since we left Mexico City in 1999. We continue to value their gracious friendship.
...The weather Saturday was cold and wet. OSHA Babe and I were looking for a good reason to go someplace warm. After giving Art and Mary the historical tour, we were off to the Blanco Cafe for caldo and the #3 special. If I can persuade him off his fishing boat on South Padre, Art may come back for some plumbing and painting. NOT!!!!!!!! So I guess that we'll just have to go visit them for some fishing and golf.
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NEXT STEPS:
1. I have made a Paint Vow. Monday and Tuesday will be dedicated to nothing other than paint preparation, e.g., sanding, caulking, painting, on the second floor. Take a deep breath and repeat after me, "Focus! Don't get distracted by the 973 other things that could be done."

2. In the small bathroom upstairs, I need to finish tiling the floor, put the 2nd coat of paint on the bead board paneling, grout the tile in the shower after putting in the shower neck and head and trim around the water control valve, and place the new toilet and lavatory.
Kitchen work will continue with the purchase of the tumbled stone tile and subsequent setting of it for the backspalsh. I do plan to work in several 2" x 2" pieces of granite that were cut from the same slab as the countertops.

3. Mario and Michael are scheduled to be back on Wednesday to begin working on putting up the skirt around the bottom of the house. That is needed to keep the crawl space under the house dry and, hopefully, minimize future shifting of the supporting piers.

4. I plan to call Sam the plumber to check his availability on getting the clawfoot tub drains and water supply lines done as well as determining what is needed to connect the garbage disposal to the drain in the kitchen. Stand by for that one.

5. Toward the end of the week, I'll be checking with Frank the floor guy to verify the specific date that he will start working on our floors.

The Floors are on a Schedule

Do you like the kitchen window with plywood or with glass panes? -----I thought so.

Color selection went on in the Kitchen and Guest Bedroom

<--View from the Balcony looking toward the west

For the Week Ending April 1, 2007

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Exciting News! We made it onto the floor man's schedule -- for the 3rd or 4th week in April. Yep, he's booked up that far out. Frank, the floor guy, is highly recommended and appreciates bringing older floors back to life. He says that the wood floors in an old house are the most visible piece of furniture in the house and should be done right. Frank and his wife (who also runs the sanding machines) moved to San Antonio about 30 years ago when they finally got tired of Wisconsin winters. We plan to get the floors done in 2 stages. This first stage will include the kitchen floor (yes, the ugly one in the first picture) and all the upstairs floors.
2. Window replacement was a big part of last week's work. Things brightened up dramatically when windows were replaced in the kitchen, parlor, and dining room. The kitchen particularly sparkles with a new window in the back wall. Prior to this, the top sash was filled in with a piece of plywood that housed the stove vent. The first two pictures above show the "Plywood" vs. "Glass" view of the kitchen. Which do you like better?
On a sad note, I broke one of the new panes during the installation process. I nearly cried as I saw a $100 bill fly away as the glass cracked under an abnormal strain. Did you know that glass won't bend too much? However, all is not lost. Yes, we'll have to buy another pane. But, since only a corner broke, the remnant is large enough to use as a replacement for a window in the TV Room that currently uses plain, not "wavy" restoration glass.
3. This past week was filled with paint, paint, and more paint. "Three" was the magic number. It took 3 different color samples in both the kitchen and guest bedroom to get the "chosen one." The TV room has taken only 2 attempts while the Master BR was a first time pick. OSHA Babe is spending so much time at the Sherwin Williams store, I don't know if she is applying for a job or what. She does drive by a Starbuck's on the way from our house to the paint store. I'll have to give her random breathalizer tests if this pattern continues. Hmmm.

4. Speaking of Starbucks Texas style, you West Coast readers will appreciate this. Saturday, The Babe and I stopped at a nearby SB's on our way to Haby's Alsatian Bakery in Castroville. While I was putting the change in my pocket, I overheard the man behind us in line place his order. It went something like this.

Starbucks barista: May I get a drink started for you?"

Texan with a strong, strong accent: "Ah just want one of those house coffees."

Starbucks barista: What size would you like?"

Texan: "Ah don't know what you call it. Just give me one of those big ol' ones."

We met at the napkin and creamer stand and I commented to him that I had heard his order and also was challenged with the new vocabulary needed to order a coffee. This gentleman agreed and said that his wife had figured it out and always ordered her favorite....."...a drink with coffee, a lot of cream, and some other stuff in it." He said that before he went home, he probably needed to take her one. I bet that the ordering of that was interesting.
5. Work in the kitchen and bathrooms continued. The guys who put the windows in stayed on Friday and worked on bathrooms. They firred out a wall in the downstairs bathroom and will be putting in a new subfloor this coming week. The kitchen may have some plumbing issues. Hopefully, the drain line in the wall is lower than the discharge port in the garbage disposal. If not, someone will have to figure out how to get water to drain uphill.
6. Visitors this week included Uncle Joe and Cousin Nettie. They were in San Antonio on business and stopped by for a 30 minute visit. Their previous visit was the day the granite fabricator was on site making a template for the countertops. So, on this visit, they got to see the granite after it was installed. What a contrast!

NEXT STEPS:
1. We have 2 weeks to get the upstairs rooms painted before floor sanding begins. We've got to focus on that so any paint drips we make will be on the pre-finished floors, not the post-finished ones. Additionally, all the rooms upstairs are getting their final ceiling coat applied.
2. Bathroom work needs to continue. After the carpenters get the subfloor done in the downstairs bathroom, I'll have them move to the small bathroom upstairs to pull the fixtures, put the bead board paneling up, and put the backerboard subfloor down so we can install the tile, set the new fixtures, and nearly be ready. We do have to get a shower door bought/made. That could be a costly surprise.
3. I've got to test the drain between the disposal and the wall in the kitchen. Man, this one worries me because it could be ugly if the drain is higher than the disposal discharge. If the drain needs to be lowered, ..................
4. A couple of rooms are showing signs of the foundation settling just a bit. I need to call the folks who did our foundation work and get them out for a tune up.